This recommendation is to provide daily practice for writing which is to assist with the improvement of writing skills. The article states that allowing daily time to write is not enough and that instructional time is necessary before the independent writing process. This instructional time should be 1 hour daily, with the initial 30 minutes being the instructional time. During this time, strategies, techniques, and skills are taught. The final 30 minutes should focus on writing time which practices the skill taught during the lesson. While teachers know it is beneficial to allow for a 1 hour writing block, it is also felt there is not enough time in a day in order to incorporate this block of time. The article suggests the integration of writing within content areas to allow skills to be practiced. Examples were given in writing lab reports, summarizing a reading article, and writing a history paper. These suggestions would allow time for daily writing of 1 hour. Debbie Crowley
Identifying time for writing is important, but the use of the time is more important in terms of setting students up for success. Although a teacher should identify the writing time in a specific class, teachers shouldn't miss the opportunity to incorporate writing skills in more content focused classes. Writing skills are not simply for writing class - students should practice across the curriculum, which creates opportunities to write for the recommended hour per day. (CK)
I was surprised that this recommendation only had minimal evidence as it would appear to be a necessity in order to faciliate the actual skill acquisition for writing. (Erin)- See also recommendation 3.
Recommendation 2
This recommendation is summarized clearly (pg. 17) with a focus on building the students' metalinguistic skills with explicit instruction on the writing process and applicable strategies. It relates to releasing responsibility slowly and that this builds independence and the writing process becomes more organic: "Writing strategies should be taught explicitly and directly through a gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student. Teachers should ensure that students have the background knowledge and skills they need to understand and use a writing strategy. Then, teachers should describe the strategy and model its use. Teachers also should articulate the purpose of the strategy, clearly stating why students might choose to use it as a way of improving their writing. Teachers then should guide students to collaborate in small groups to practice applying the strategy." First "I do," then "We do," and finally "Y'all do." Figure 1 on pg. 17 provides a helpful illustration of how to teach the strategy of brainstorming with a gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student. (submitted by Laura 10/30/2012)
Laura-Excellent summary! I chose this recommendation because in sixth grade I find that students are reluctant to use a process approach to writing. They tend to want to think for one or two minutes and then jump right into drafting. I was hoping that this might give me some ideas to help readers engage more deeply in the writing process. Unfortunately, it didn't. In most cases, it reinforced what I already knew: this process is important to writers, especially as they are developing their writing skills. I also think that students tend to compartmentalize genres of writing; they don't see the connections across classrooms/subject areas. Part of this has to do with the fact that at our grade level, we don't have a common language or common approach to teaching writing in all subject areas; it is seen more as the responsibility of the English teachers. I also think it has to do with the developmental nature of the age group; they aren't yet generalizing. However, I do think the article gave me a good review of the writing process and also added in sharing, something I do not include in the writing process but am coming to realize is more important. I also liked their outline of how to gradually release responsibility to the students as well as the reminder to be flexible in using the writing process. I think I tend to teach it more linearly and could improve in this. Overall, this section of the article was worthwhile. (submitted by Denise 11/6/2012)
Particularly for students with Executive Function challenges, it is critically important for teachers to teach students the process of writing in a step by step manner. Having said that, it is a process that needs to be presented as a flexible and changing approach, not one set in stone. The gradual release of responsibility is a great way to provide direct instruction and lead up to creating a more student driven environment. We expect students to move flexibly thought the process of writing - teachers should do the same in terms of stepping back or moving in to provide or remove support. Creating a routine for students gives them a foundation / process to follow. The art in writing is developing ideas and revising as necessary throughout the process. This makes me think about Recommendation 1 - it's not just the time, it's the use of the time. (CK)
Recommendation 3
This recommendation is to teach students to become fluent with handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, typing and word processing.
Beginning with handwriting, instruction should focus on how to correctly hold a pencil and fluently form letters. With regard to spelling, it reviews spelling development and suggestions for spelling instruction. Interesting fact: About 850 words account for 80% of the words used by elementary students. Next, we should teach students how to construct sentences for fluency, meaning, and style. Lessons may focus on meaning and syntax, sentence construction and the mechanics of grammar and punctuation. Some suggested activities include sentence framing, sentence expanding, and sentence combining. Finally, the recommendation addresses typing and word processing skills. It recommends introduction to typing skills begin in first grade. By the end of 2nd or 3rd grade, students should be able to type as fast as they can handwrite. Surprising note: On the 2013 NAEP, 4th grade students will use computers for the writing assessment! This recommendation separates out typing from word processing and suggests that by the end of 2nd grade, students should be able to create, use, and save a draft for writing using a word processing program. One roadblock includes those students who struggle with handwriting and.or spelling. The suggestion is for these students to switch to typing sooner. (submitted by Lis during Hurricane Sandy).
This recommendation relates to an area of focus in my practice. It discussed handwriting instruction for very young students and recommended moving on to word processing if the handwriting instruction does not lead to an ability to produce writing. The recommendation suggestions students be introduced to typing as early as 1st grade. They further add that by 2nd grade students should have regular typing practice and should be able to type as fast as they can write by the end of 2nd to 3rd grade. It is interesting that there is no citation noted at the end of this paragraph. (Erin)
Table 6 describes spelling skills by grade level while Table 7 describes activities for sentence structure development. Both tables provide activities with increased complexity. It seems evident that within each recommendation (1 through 4) tasks are presented in an increasingly complex manner and provide the student with scaffolding where needed and decreased as they progress through the learning process. This is especially true in Recommendation 2 with the slow increased responsibility of the student. (Erin).
Recommendation 4
This recommendation talks about creating an engaged community of writers. A supportive environment should be created so that the writers are motivated to write well. This can be done in a few ways:
Teachers participate as writers by writing along with and sharing their own writings with students, while providing them with the required instruction
Students should be allowed to chose their own writing topics and also modify teacher selected prompts.
Peer edit while giving and receiving feedback, collaboration to increase the sense of community in the classroom.
Providing opportunities to students to give and receive feedback from teachers and peers throughout the writing process.
Roadblocks or challenges that might come up and how to overcome them were also discussed. Road block 1
Teachers can be uncomfortable sharing their writing as they are themselves uncomfortable with their own craft. Road Block 2
If students are allowed to chose their own topic, the teacher might not be able to focus on content standard adequately. Road Block 3
Providing feedback at all times to all students can be overwhelming and time consuming. (submitted by susmita 11/5)
Hit edit to add information.
Recommendation 1
This recommendation is to provide daily practice for writing which is to assist with the improvement of writing skills. The article states that allowing daily time to write is not enough and that instructional time is necessary before the independent writing process. This instructional time should be 1 hour daily, with the initial 30 minutes being the instructional time. During this time, strategies, techniques, and skills are taught. The final 30 minutes should focus on writing time which practices the skill taught during the lesson. While teachers know it is beneficial to allow for a 1 hour writing block, it is also felt there is not enough time in a day in order to incorporate this block of time. The article suggests the integration of writing within content areas to allow skills to be practiced. Examples were given in writing lab reports, summarizing a reading article, and writing a history paper. These suggestions would allow time for daily writing of 1 hour. Debbie CrowleyIdentifying time for writing is important, but the use of the time is more important in terms of setting students up for success. Although a teacher should identify the writing time in a specific class, teachers shouldn't miss the opportunity to incorporate writing skills in more content focused classes. Writing skills are not simply for writing class - students should practice across the curriculum, which creates opportunities to write for the recommended hour per day. (CK)
I was surprised that this recommendation only had minimal evidence as it would appear to be a necessity in order to faciliate the actual skill acquisition for writing. (Erin)- See also recommendation 3.
Recommendation 2
This recommendation is summarized clearly (pg. 17) with a focus on building the students' metalinguistic skills with explicit instruction on the writing process and applicable strategies. It relates to releasing responsibility slowly and that this builds independence and the writing process becomes more organic: "Writing strategies should be taught explicitly and directly through a gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student. Teachers should ensure that students have the background knowledge and skills they need to understand and use a writing strategy. Then, teachers should describe the strategy and model its use. Teachers also should articulate the purpose of the strategy, clearly stating why students might choose to use it as a way of improving their writing. Teachers then should guide students to collaborate in small groups to practice applying the strategy." First "I do," then "We do," and finally "Y'all do." Figure 1 on pg. 17 provides a helpful illustration of how to teach the strategy of brainstorming with a gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student. (submitted by Laura 10/30/2012)Laura-Excellent summary! I chose this recommendation because in sixth grade I find that students are reluctant to use a process approach to writing. They tend to want to think for one or two minutes and then jump right into drafting. I was hoping that this might give me some ideas to help readers engage more deeply in the writing process. Unfortunately, it didn't. In most cases, it reinforced what I already knew: this process is important to writers, especially as they are developing their writing skills. I also think that students tend to compartmentalize genres of writing; they don't see the connections across classrooms/subject areas. Part of this has to do with the fact that at our grade level, we don't have a common language or common approach to teaching writing in all subject areas; it is seen more as the responsibility of the English teachers. I also think it has to do with the developmental nature of the age group; they aren't yet generalizing. However, I do think the article gave me a good review of the writing process and also added in sharing, something I do not include in the writing process but am coming to realize is more important. I also liked their outline of how to gradually release responsibility to the students as well as the reminder to be flexible in using the writing process. I think I tend to teach it more linearly and could improve in this. Overall, this section of the article was worthwhile. (submitted by Denise 11/6/2012)
Particularly for students with Executive Function challenges, it is critically important for teachers to teach students the process of writing in a step by step manner. Having said that, it is a process that needs to be presented as a flexible and changing approach, not one set in stone. The gradual release of responsibility is a great way to provide direct instruction and lead up to creating a more student driven environment. We expect students to move flexibly thought the process of writing - teachers should do the same in terms of stepping back or moving in to provide or remove support. Creating a routine for students gives them a foundation / process to follow. The art in writing is developing ideas and revising as necessary throughout the process. This makes me think about Recommendation 1 - it's not just the time, it's the use of the time. (CK)
Recommendation 3
This recommendation is to teach students to become fluent with handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, typing and word processing.Beginning with handwriting, instruction should focus on how to correctly hold a pencil and fluently form letters. With regard to spelling, it reviews spelling development and suggestions for spelling instruction. Interesting fact: About 850 words account for 80% of the words used by elementary students. Next, we should teach students how to construct sentences for fluency, meaning, and style. Lessons may focus on meaning and syntax, sentence construction and the mechanics of grammar and punctuation. Some suggested activities include sentence framing, sentence expanding, and sentence combining. Finally, the recommendation addresses typing and word processing skills. It recommends introduction to typing skills begin in first grade. By the end of 2nd or 3rd grade, students should be able to type as fast as they can handwrite. Surprising note: On the 2013 NAEP, 4th grade students will use computers for the writing assessment! This recommendation separates out typing from word processing and suggests that by the end of 2nd grade, students should be able to create, use, and save a draft for writing using a word processing program. One roadblock includes those students who struggle with handwriting and.or spelling. The suggestion is for these students to switch to typing sooner. (submitted by Lis during Hurricane Sandy).
This recommendation relates to an area of focus in my practice. It discussed handwriting instruction for very young students and recommended moving on to word processing if the handwriting instruction does not lead to an ability to produce writing. The recommendation suggestions students be introduced to typing as early as 1st grade. They further add that by 2nd grade students should have regular typing practice and should be able to type as fast as they can write by the end of 2nd to 3rd grade. It is interesting that there is no citation noted at the end of this paragraph. (Erin)
Table 6 describes spelling skills by grade level while Table 7 describes activities for sentence structure development. Both tables provide activities with increased complexity. It seems evident that within each recommendation (1 through 4) tasks are presented in an increasingly complex manner and provide the student with scaffolding where needed and decreased as they progress through the learning process. This is especially true in Recommendation 2 with the slow increased responsibility of the student. (Erin).
Recommendation 4
This recommendation talks about creating an engaged community of writers. A supportive environment should be created so that the writers are motivated to write well. This can be done in a few ways:- Teachers participate as writers by writing along with and sharing their own writings with students, while providing them with the required instruction
- Students should be allowed to chose their own writing topics and also modify teacher selected prompts.
- Peer edit while giving and receiving feedback, collaboration to increase the sense of community in the classroom.
- Providing opportunities to students to give and receive feedback from teachers and peers throughout the writing process.
Roadblocks or challenges that might come up and how to overcome them were also discussed.Road block 1
Teachers can be uncomfortable sharing their writing as they are themselves uncomfortable with their own craft.
Road Block 2
If students are allowed to chose their own topic, the teacher might not be able to focus on content standard adequately.
Road Block 3
Providing feedback at all times to all students can be overwhelming and time consuming. (submitted by susmita 11/5)